Reading articles like this make me quite sad, not because the described lifestyle is unappealing to me (I'm a vegan who doesn't drive, avoids plastic, and is "off-grid" on solar power), but because on an individual level, these efforts are so pale in comparison to environmental destruction caused by military, industry and large-scale commerce, I consider bragging or evangelizing them to be vain and even a bit egoistic.<p>Don't get me wrong: avoiding animal products, long-haul flights, plastic shampoo bottles are all worthwhile, but not for the reasons stated. They do not even begin to address the large systemic problem of climate change and ecological harm. They make us feel good, like we're "doing something" - and perhaps that's by design while the real perpetrators of our own extinction go unpunished and even unrecognized. It is "bumper sticker" activism while what's actually needed is a radical shift in collective consciousness. How do we organize such global action for effect?
<i>How is a handful of people eschewing flights and 5-day work weeks going to have any impact on our future temperatures?</i><p>We can work on renewables, but the main source our renewable power today is hydroelectric and I have read that very little growth in hydroelectric power can be expected because the vast majority of exploitable topology in the USA is already in use for hydroelectric.<p>Its hard to imagine enough wind turbines being built to eliminate oil, coal, and gas very soon. I've probably made a mistake in my calculations so I welcome some help here. Maybe someone can correct this if I'm wrong.<p><pre><code> total_usa_power_MWH = 3,808,000,000
fraction_non_renewable = 0.78
replacement_needed_MWH = total_usa_power_MWH * fraction_non_renewable
// replacement_needed_MWH == 2,970,240,000
turbine_capacity_factor = 0.32
nameplate_needed_MWH = replacement_needed_MWH / turbine_capacity_factor
// nameplate_needed_MWH = 9,282,000,000
cost_per_nameplate_MWH = 2,000,000
total_cost = nameplate_needed_MWH * cost_per_nameplate_MWH
// total_cost == 1.86e+16
cost_trillions = 18,600
</code></pre>
The annual GDP of the USA is around 20 trillion dollars while replacing our non_renewable_power will cost 900 years worth of our total GDP. Is this right?<p>Even if we pursue this course of action will it affect global temperatures. Other countries will continue to emit GHGs.
I love 4-day work week. Have been working 4 days or less for many years now, making my colleagues jealous. It's great. Never going back to 5 days. Never.
I'm getting quite annoyed now with the number of people who have little to no training in matters of climate getting called "climate scientists" by the press, or representing themselves as such.